The French Open is fully deserving of its reputation as the world’s premier clay court event. It is furiously competitive each year, to such an extent that French successes have been few and far between.

The stadium that stages one of the world’s four major tennis tournaments was built in 1928, but the French men’s singles championship goes back much further than that. Originally reserved for members of French clubs, it was first held on the courts of Stade Français club in Paris in 1891.

The women’s singles were added six years later, it was not until 1925 that the French Tennis Federation decided to open the event to the best foreign players.

Thus, the French Internationals were born, and staged alternately at Stade Français and Racing Club de France until the Roland-Garros stadium came into being in 1928.